Recap: UFC: Smith vs Clark/Tyson vs Jones Jr.

 Recap: UFC: Smith vs Clark/Tyson vs Jones Jr.

                        Anthony Smith submits Devin Clark in the first round with a triangle choke | Chris Unger-Zuffa LLC

Grade for Event: C+

Picks Record for Event: 4-3

Smith vs Clark: 205lbs

Anthony Smith gets back into the win column after getting a first-round submission via triangle choke over Devin Clark. After taking some punches early in the fight, Smith, 32, got a crucial takedown but then got reversed and ended up in bottom position. He then locked up a nasty triangle choke 2:34 into the first round, forcing Clark to tap. Smith (34-16, 9-5 UFC) has been asking for a fight with Luke Rockhold and I think that if Rockhold wants to come out of retirement, that is the fight to make. Clark, 30, moves to twelve wins and five losses overall with a UFC record of six wins and five losses after his loss last night. 

Baeza vs Sato: 170lbs 

Miguel Baeza, 27, stays undefeated after getting a big win over Takashi Sato. After a close first round that I personally gave to Baeza, both fighters came out swinging for the fences to start the second round. Late in that round Baeza gets a takedown and ends up in half-guard. He then transitioned to side control and began to work on an arm triangle choke. He gets the choke sunk in and forces Sato to tap 4:28 into the second round. It is the first submission win for Baeza in his young career so far. He moves to 3-0 in the UFC and looks like a real blue chip level prospect. I am very excited to see where he goes from here and what path the UFC wants to put him on going forward. 

Best of the Rest:

Parker Porter (11-6, 1-1 UFC) gets a unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-28) win over Josh Parisan (13-4, 0-1 UFC).

Bill Algeo (14-5, 1-1 UFC) gets a unanimous decision (30-27 X3) win over Spike Carlyle (9-3, 1-2 UFC).

Norma Dumont (5-1, 1-1 UFC) gets a unanimous decision (30-26 X3) win over Ashlee Evans-Smith (6-5, 3-5 UFC).

Jonathan Pearce (10-4, 1-1 UFC) gets a second-round TKO (4:28) win over Kai Kamaka III (8-3, 1-1 UFC).

Anderson dos Santos (21-8, 1-2 UFC) gets a second-round submission (4:35) win over Martin Day (8-5, 1-2 UFC).

Gina Mazany (7-4, 3-4 UFC) gets a third-round TKO (4:10) win over Rachael Ostovich (4-6, 1-3 UFC).

Su Mudaeroi (13-4, 2-1 UFC) gets a first-round KO (0:44) over Malcom Gordon (12-5, 0-2 UFC).

Nate Maness (13-1, 2-0 UFC) gets a second-round submission (2:29) win over Luke Sanders (13-4, 3-4 UFC). 

Tyson vs Jones Jr: Boxing

Mike Tyson throws a right hook to the body of Roy Jones Jr. | Evening Standard

I must say, this fight was slightly better than I would have originally thought. My expectations for this fight were extremely low. Two men in their fifties, one has not fought in over fifteen years and the other in almost three years. There was a lot of clinching throughout the whole fight. Both guys would throw one or two punches and then tie each other up. I would say about half of the fight was them hugging each other in the clinch. Neither boxer really landed anything significant the whole fight. Both guys also slowed down greatly as the fight went into the later rounds, which was to be expected. I was glad the “judges” had this fight end in a draw. I really hope both fighters hang up the gloves for good but I have a hunch that will not happen unfortunately. While this fight was not the shit show that I thought it would be, it is clear that both men are just way too old to keep doing this and for their safety, both need to pump the brakes on this Masters division of boxing.